Wednesday, 31 January 2018

“I am not leaving this room” I told myself the moment I stepped
inside my accommodation at Sea Two Pool Villa in Pattaya, Thailand.
Fortunately, our first day itinerary was just easy-breezy, thus giving me the
rest of the afternoon to just chill around. We came from an event in Bangkok hosted
by the Tourism Authority of Thailand where they flew lucky fans to meet Thai
actor Mario Maurer.

Monday, 22 January 2018

Ever since I left my college mountaineering club in the
University of Santo Tomas, I have trekked to the mountains few and far between. It felt like a romantic
separation that left me searching for ways to reconnect with. I would plan
hiking trips here and there, only to shelve it in favor of a trip to the beach.
Despite my deep interest in hiking taking a backseat, the call of the great
outdoors remained loud and I know that it was just only a matter of time before
I stepped on the jagged Philippine mountains again.

Saturday, 20 January 2018

Describing Filipino food
is similar to discussing the film Inception – because of the varying layers
that comprises it. When you think you figured out the overall character of
Filipino cuisine, venturing into another province will once again introduce you
to another strata of taste, texture and smell – essential food traits that
exist distinctly in each regions of the Philippines. To give you an idea of the
diversity of Filipino cuisine, here are some appetizing provincial gastronomies
being prepared and served all over the country – to which I and these foodies
whom I asked for recommendation, echoes a must-try endorsement.

Friday, 19 January 2018

It was almost an hour into
our hike when we reached the edge of a boulder ravine dropping to more than a
hundred feet. I saw our guide took out his rope and instantly proceeded
behind the trees. “Wait for us, we’re
just going to fix the rope” he told us in Tagalog. I took a peek and
figured it would have been a very hurtful fall - with major broken bone ramifications, if one slid down to the bottom. This was just one of the many obstacle
course-like trail characteristics of the path leading to Ambon-Ambon falls. It looks
moderate when you consider the distance of two hour and a half away, but going
through all presents a set of challenging yet fun adventure moments.

Monday, 15 January 2018

It was a bipolar year once
again. Just the way I like it. The Gods know me really well. Another set of 360
days and so, filled with sprinkled moments of ‘spectacular wow’, sandwiched
with threadbare bouts of sadness, just passed by.

“There is something beautiful
in reveling in sadness”, given happiness’ brilliance in showering positive
energy to my life, I must pay homage to the role of the 'blues’ in shaping the
way I look at the world. Without it, my pursuit of bliss will go down in an
unremarkable manner.

Wednesday, 10 January 2018

The former site of a
United States Air Force Base and once was the most strategic military position
of America in the Far East; Clark, Pampanga has morphed into a highly developed
city within a city. Known today as the Clark Freeport Zone – it currently
houses modern infrastructures serving as a major hub for tourism, business,
aviation, education, manufacturing and other leading industries. The robust
development which started in 1995 after years of neglect brought on by the
departure of the US Military and the eruption of Mount Pinatubo, Clark Freeport
Zone quickly became the leisure, entertainment and gaming center in Central
Luzon.

A little over a decade ago,
many locals in Myanmar can swear about seeing a foreigner as rare as a super
moon. Today, those rarity has become a commonplace occurrence – as Myanmar have
opened its doors to tourism in the last several years. Travel to the country
formerly known as Burma has become so easy, as long as travelers from other
countries (except those from neighboring Southeast Asian nations), book their Myanmar visa here
before they fly to either Yangon, Bagan or Mandalay.

Friday, 5 January 2018

As a travel writer I always
find myself needing to book a flight or an accommodation almost spontaneously. Most
of the time when I am on the tail-end of travel writing assignment, I extend my
trip in order to cover more places. And in each time, I always score myself
cheap flights and hotels via Traveloka – which I now consider as my go-to
travel app. There has been a lot of apprehensions whenever a traveler books a
flight through third-party app other than a website’s official app. I
understand where the doubts are coming from, but I guarantee that I have never
experienced even a slight problem with my numerous bookings made via Traveloka.

About the Blogger

Marky Ramone Go is a travel-junkie, writer and photographer based in the Philippines. Aside from contributing articles to various publications and websites, he narrates his experiences wandering the tropical paradise of the Philippines, the culturally rich regions of South East Asia, Sri Lanka and India on this travel blog. After Asia, he is keen on exploring South America and eventually tracing Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" trail in the United States to Mexico.: